Epic Universe is Gorgeous at Night…But Won’t Be Open at Night (Update: Hours Extended)
Universal Orlando has released the park hours for Epic Universe’s grand opening on May 22, 2025 and first week of operations thereafter, as well as the schedules for Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. This shares official details, along with our commentary about why this news is disappointing, as is the unduly defensive reaction from some fans. (Updated May 6, 2025.)
When it was originally released last month, the Universal Orlando Resort calendar indicated that Epic Universe would be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for its grand opening on May 22, 2025. The park also will not host Early Park Admission that date, as early entry at Epic Universe begins May 23 and continues through at least the end of December 2025.
This calendar also stated upon release that Islands of Adventure would be open to the general public from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on May 22, with Early Park Admission starting at 8 a.m. Meaning that decades-old park was effectively slated to be operating for 2 extra hours than Epic Universe on the brand-new park’s opening day. All of these hours have now been updated as of May 6, 2025.
Universal Orlando’s calendar now indicates that Epic Universe is open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., May 22 through June 1, 2025. Early Park Admission will begin at 8 a.m. starting on May 23, 2025.
Starting June 2, Epic Universe will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., with Early Park Admission an hour beforehand. On Monday, June 16, the park will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., before reverting to 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. from June 17-22, 2025. The following Monday and Tuesday, June 23-24, Epic Universe will once again operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., before shifting back to 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. for June 25-29; there’s then one final 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. date on Monday, June 30, 2025. Operating hours have yet to be released for July 2025 and beyond.
Epic Universe is currently open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. for paid previews, with on-site hotel guests getting Early Park Admission starting at 10 a.m. Attendance has reportedly increased during the previews, especially on weekends, since Universal opened ticket sales to the general public.
These calendar changes come a couple of weeks after Universal released the original schedule and received significant blowback from fans for the early closing time for Epic Universe. (See comments and commentary below.) Proving once again that sometimes constructive criticism and fan feedback can yield positive changes. (There’s no reason to believe this is due to ticket sales or occupancy–these dates were all sold out months ago.)
What follows is our original commentary about Epic Universe closing before nightfall; still relevant for many dates in June, but thankfully, not all of them.
Note that in late May 2025, the sunset time in Orlando, Florida ranges from 8:13 p.m. to 8:18 p.m. June times range from 8:18 p.m. to 8:27 p.m. At the risk of stating the obvious, it doesn’t get dark the second the sun goes down; it takes another 30-45 minutes before nightfall and things really start looking good. At least, this has been our experience with Epic Universe during previews.
The park hours for Epic Universe over opening weekend (and beyond) are especially unfortunate given that the park was practically designed to be experienced at night. To be sure, every theme park in Central Florida is better in the evening just by virtue of lighting packages and comfort. But Epic Universe, in particular, has fountains and effects in Celestial Park as well as pretty much the entirety of Dark Universe that only really ‘work’ at night. (More like Daylight Universe, amirite?!)
There are myriad potential reasons for Epic Universe closing early. One is undoubtedly the need to conduct overnight maintenance; several attractions are still unreliable and that’s unlikely to be resolved in the next month. Another is wanting or needing to clear the park by a reasonable hour; if Mine-Cart Madness has a 120 minute wait at park closing, that means the park won’t be guest-free until closer to 11 p.m.
Less charitably, there’s probably the desire to cut costs or push guests towards visiting Islands of Adventure. We already know Comcast has spent a ton of money gearing up for the launch of Epic Universe, and now they’d like to save on operating expenses and recoup their investment. Similarly, there might be park buyouts; we already saw one of these in Dark Universe during previews!
Whatever the reasons, none of them are insurmountable–nor do they justify Universal closing the park so early on the day of its anxiously-awaited grand opening. This move has Big Animal Kingdom Energy, and I do not mean that in a positive way.
Honestly, this is another thing making me want to push off our opening weekend trip to Universal Orlando that we booked months ago.
It feels like this is going to be a not-so-grand opening for Epic Universe, and an anticlimactic experience when all is said and done. Following months of previews and a gala media event in the couple of days leading up to May 22, it just seems like the day itself is going to be business as usual and lacking the usual fanfare that comes with such openings.
I’m sure the big day will still be special with diehard Universal fans and Team Members, and I don’t want to suggest otherwise. But it looks like the company isn’t doing anything special, and that a lot of the excitement has been pulled forward to the previews that most of those same fans will already have attended. This isn’t necessarily a complaint–having the opportunity to experience those previews has been awesome. There’s just less of an incentive to be there on May 22.
That’s a minor detail in the grand scheme of things; I’m more concerned about the possibility/probability of Epic Universe not being open at night during its first summer. It’s such a stunning park at night, and it feels like that’s being squandered. I don’t believe Epic Universe “needs” these shorter hours, but if it does, operate from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m., at the very least. I would’ve thought Universal would want to leave tourists with a lasting impression to take home and share with friends and family; word of mouth is going to be hugely important to this park.
What’s most disheartening about this is fans immediately jumping to Universal’s defense, preemptively offering excuses on the company’s behalf for why this is a necessary move. That it simply isn’t possible or pragmatic for Epic Universe to have a later closing on opening day than 9 p.m. for X or Y reason. Closing must occur earlier as a result of certain operational realities, or whatever. Thankfully, this is not the perspective of most Universal fans–but it is of too many.
As a longtime Walt Disney World fan, I’d strongly caution the Universal diehards against this–it’s a slippery slope. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve heard that X or Y isn’t possible for this reason or that. Fans provide a pretext, giving the company a pass on making a business decision that’s negative for the guest experience; it’s often done under the misguided notion that the fans are defending the creatives or passionate people working hard to deliver an exemplary experience. The problem with this line of thinking is that creatives are rarely (read: almost never) the ones making business decisions.
(At least when it comes to park hours, there’s clear consensus that Walt Disney World should have longer hours at Magic Kingdom. Most also agree that Animal Kingdom shouldn’t close before sunset, as happens much of the year. At the very least, you don’t really have fans defending the shorter hours. Most point to the 8 a.m. to midnight hours at Disneyland and wonder why we can’t have that. There’s also a definite double-standard with how fans treat Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando.)
Sometimes, it is the case that decisions are necessary for reasons fans cannot comprehend or appreciate. From the outside looking in, we cannot see the complete picture or understand the practical realities of running a theme park. We can have unrealistic expectations; there’s really no denying that.
But quite often, there is not consensus about this stuff within the company, either. This should be obvious, as you probably don’t agree with every decision made in your workplace, school, etc. There’s almost never unanimous agreement even in smaller organizations–now imagine how that scales to multinational conglomerates.
When it comes to theme parks, there are a lot of hard-fought internal battles; the people who are passionate about the product are trying to deliver more. It’s not uncommon for them to need “ammunition” in the form of fan feedback to support their position. I’m not necessarily saying that’s what’s happening here, but I am saying that the people who always jump to a company’s defense because they think criticism is tantamount to unloyalty are really the ones who are misguided. They’re the ones who are behaving in ways detrimental to the quality of the experience; constructive criticism is an asset, not a liability.
I mention all of this because one of the ways that Epic Universe struck me most while walking around was how many of the battles Universal Creative won. There are so many ‘superfluous’ details in Epic Universe that we’ve never seen in a domestic Universal theme park outside of the Harry Potter lands. Plenty of things that could’ve easily been cut when the budget started to spiral, but somehow weren’t. So much of this project struck me as an ‘against all odds’ accomplishment.
There were a number of instances, in fact, where I was impressed by a relatively little thing because I knew there’s no way present-day Imagineering would’ve had the political capital to win some of these same battles (at least not domestically). This isn’t to say Epic Universe surpasses all six Disney theme parks in the United States; it definitely does not. It’s more that you can walk around and be struck by this or that, and think: “Disney never would’ve done this.” (For the record, this cuts both ways–but this isn’t an Epic Universe review.)
Granted, it’s possible that Comcast simply gave them a blank check and complete autonomy. I somehow doubt that. Even though I don’t have nearly as much insight to the dynamic between leadership and creative at this company, I do have a loose understanding of how it works at Disney. Moreover, I have eyes. I’ve seen the end results at Universal’s existing gates and the sharp contrast between those and Epic Universe. It’s not like the same creatives responsible for those additions suddenly “got good” when it came to Epic Universe.
Point being, Universal Creative managed to make something special, and they did that with not just exquisite lighting packages but also core themed design in some areas that is truly better at night. I would hazard a guess that the process itself was often oriented around how certain areas would look and feel under the controlled nighttime show lighting.
Defend this early closing if you want. That’s obviously your prerogative. There are no doubt valid reasons why Epic Universe might “need” to close at 9 p.m. during its opening summer. There are also reasons why it shouldn’t, and on balance, it’s difficult for me to see the former winning out for any other reason than ease and expense.
When it comes to offering unwavering support of whatever decisions a company makes, do so with the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, you’re defending the “wrong” people in an internal power struggle. If the teams behind Dark Universe, Celestial Park, Super Nintendo World, etc., could speak their minds freely without fear of reprisal, do you honestly think they’d say, “yes of course, we want this thing we’ve passionately created for the past decade to close after 30 minutes of dusk.”
Anyway, I wanted to offer this ‘pep talk’ to Universal fans because there’s definitely a certain “Second City Syndrome” among many of them. I get it. You want to defend ‘your parks’ because so many Disney fans offer nothing but criticism and condescension. (The same dynamic exists, albeit to a lesser extent, with Animal Kingdom enthusiasts within the WDW fandom.)
However, the tides are turning on that. With Epic Universe, you’ve reached The Big Show. This park is going to turn heads and cause a critical reevaluation of Universal, including (especially) among Disney diehards. It might behoove you to hold Universal to the same high standard going forward that the park’s creators held themselves to when designing and building Epic Universe. Defending decisions detrimental to the guest experience isn’t doing anyone any favors; just ask Walt Disney World fans how that’s worked out for us.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on Universal Orlando closing Epic Universe at 9 p.m. on its grand opening day and thereafter in May 2025 even officially? Think there’s a good reason for this, or is it a cost-savings (or way to sell the park twice for corporate buyouts)? Hoping Universal Orlando does things differently/better with operations of this exceptional new theme park? What do you think the reaction would be if Walt Disney World did this? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below.
Hmm, in general I think I’ll defend the 9pm closing. Theme parks are primarily businesses and I’m not sure expecting very late closings is reasonable for a third gate. As long as they don’t copy DLP (which closes at the earliest hour that lets them run the fireworks), there’ll be plenty of time outside summer to experience the park after dark.
I will agree it’s a disgrace – and bad business, given how many photos will be shared from it – not to be open until midnight on Grand Opening Day. They should be trying to make that day special, and it’s a crapshoot whether it’ll be special operationally.
Follow the money.
1. The Universal Parks close early so they can dump you out on to City Walk at a reasonable hour and get more $$$ out you.
2. There will be reserved corporate events from 9PM to ??? that bring in even more money.
The corporate events are not all bad. Yes, the park will close for non-event guests earlier, but in my experience you can still walk freely throughout the park during the whole event. You just can’t get on any rides or buy any food. (Or can you?)
This past Spring Break on a Saturday night at IoA, we exited HMCMA at about 9:30PM and saw legions of people in Hogsmeade wearing glowing red wristbands. On the way to the park exit, we saw a man without a wristband arguing with an ice cream vendor. The vendor repeatedly said that he couldn’t sell him any ice cream unless he had a red wristband.
There were lots of event people making early exits; I could have easily asked them for their wristbands. Or do you need an event ticket along with the wristband to get on the rides?
It’s definitely corporate events as opposed to CityWalk–although that rationale does apply with IoA and USF. Epic Universe is quite a hike from CityWalk. Might behoove them to keep Celestial Park open later (even if unofficially) to function as a de facto CityWalk for guests staying at the resorts in this area, or anyone else who wants to eat later.
As a family with older kids, we would absolutely be in favor of the later hours. None of us want to get up early lol! & we are all up late at night. It seems all the parks want to be geared towards to families with the little kids that get up at the crack of dawn. Maybe that can be justified for Magic Kingdom but not the other parks. People are on vacation- does nobody want to sleep in??
Do you think there is a “after hours ticket” in the works to 1: generate revenue 2: restricted attendance numbers during the evening hours 3: allow for some areas to close earlier by limiting what is available during after hour times?
This is what I was thinking! People would absolutely pay it. But you think they would announced it by now.
I am unapologetically team Universal and couldn’t agree with you more on this one Tom. Epic Universe was made to shine at night and *needs* to be open then. 10PM should be the very earliest this park ever closes in the summer (midnight would be ideal). If they have to open an hour later due to operational realities then so be it, but nighttime hours are vital to showcase this park at its best.
Perfectly said. Universal, please let your product shine at its best, rather than boxing it into a square.
Super Nintendo World and Ministry of Magic — amazing during the day, but equally at night. Even, Isle of Berk is most beautiful at dusk (in my opinion). Celestial Park and Dark Universe — explore during the day, but the “wow factor” happens at night.
After attending a paid preview that ended at 9 PM, my first thought was that I wished we could return for another visit in the future and stay later, rather than arriving at 8 AM or 9 AM (and that’s even coming from a mom with elementary-age kids).
I would prefer to go to IOA or Universal Studios early in the day, rather than leaving Epic Universe at night to go to IOA. It’s much easier to leave Epic Universe and get back to your hotel at night (Helios, Stella Nova, or Terra Luna) than from IOA or Universal (the walk through City Walk, to the buses, to the hotel…ugh).
Even though the park closes at 9pm, have been able to still spend time walking around the park afterward? Do they restrict access to the different lands or could you for example still go walk around Dark Universe even if you couldn’t get in the queue for either of the rides?
Is there even a remote chance that they are limiting ticket sales (beyond May) to avoid the threat of bad publicity? I remember the first weeks of Potter at both parks made news headlines even here in the UK. For months after opening the queue times were insane. It becomes a win-win then. They get the positive feedback without 7 hours waits, get to maintain overnight (which they still have to do for Hagrid I understand) and save on operating costs. There’s only 11 attractions at EPIC so I wonder is ticket limits are a thing? We are coming late August for our (first) DVC stay and are at UOR 1-5 of September so hopefully we shall see it at night on our 1 day we’re allowed in.
you know, i like these parks, Disney and Universal, especially at night because darkness is inherently threatening and therefore it’s a pleasure to walk around nicely lighted structures and among people and not feel i might have to suddenly throw myself in front of my family to protect them,. for in these enclosed parks, unlike in the woods or on the streets of my city, there’s no need for bear spray in the pocket when at night we go out awalkin’!
in conclusion give us more night time to loiter longer,..
“There were a number of instances, in fact, where I was impressed by a relatively little thing because I knew there’s no way present-day Imagineering would’ve had the political capital to win some of these same battles”
For goodness sakes Tom, with your knowledge and experience you’re probably one of the best, if not the best, people in the world to make this point in detail, so why merely tease it?
I’ve been to all Orlando theme parks and had the good fortune to attend Epic Universe on the first castmember preview day open to non-family guests. I’m knowledgeable enough to have informed takes on the quality of attractions, or entertainment, or aspects of the park’s layout. But there are surely many other things I’fe overlooked or not properly appreciated where I’d benefit from an unbiased expert’s eye.
I really hope you will consider writing in detail about some of the little and/or overlooked creative decisions in Epic Universe in addition to more mainstream coverage like attracting reviews or touring suggestions.
Even if I allow for the fact that the Studios park has been 9am to 9pm without earlier entry available, and thus this has been a “possibility,” there’s the clear fact that IOA will be open later with earlier entry available.
Not to mention the fact that EU will be a skillet come summer, and crowds reacted appropriately when possible at WDW. I was considering a September visit, but not if there’s no time for a midday nap/dunk in the pool.
I have to say that while reading your column the first thing that came to mind was….if they need a certain amount of down hours then just open an hour later so they can close an hour later. This, I’m sure would not make people happy either, but the parts of the park, as you mentioned, were made for the dark, and with Florida heat most would rather visit then anyway.
I will say the last visit I had to both Disney and Universal I was shocked at the short hours. I tried to make my visits according to the hours making my hotel days really wonkie. Even then I ended up spending a lot of time in my room with no where to go, and to the parks shagrin….so did my spending money.
Any ideas on why Disneyland is open so much longer than Disney World? And why Animal Kingdom closes so early? They used to have a light show on the water at night?
Demand or lack thereof and cost-savings.
Disneyland draws a lot of locals visiting after work, so it sustains crowds well into the evening. Although I’d argue that Magic Kingdom could easily sustain the same, but WDW just doesn’t want to pay for an extra hour or two of operations. Animal Kingdom clears out long before closing, and even the nighttime spectacular (Rivers of Light) didn’t really change that.
That makes sense
I completely agree. Last year, we had the option of a brief WDW or Disneyland visit. With transportation and hotels being a financial push, we almost entirely picked DL because of it’s long operating hours. We could do in two days at DL what would have taken at three at WDW (I realize they are not mirror images). And, with a tween, we loved the late nights out of the sun (which, while warm in July, isn’t nearly as bad as Florida’s sun and humidity combo). We are going to UOR in late Summer. I assumed that Epic would be open until at least 10 or hopefully 11 to enjoy the park without the heat. If it’s operational, start the day later. I think this is a big whiff on Universal’s part and hope that they learn from it.
We went to Universal the week of April 1st. We were passholders for a few years several years ago but hadn’t been in 2 years. We’ve been going more to Disney lately. We flew down for just a quick 2 park day visit. One day the parks closed at 7 pm and the next day they both closed super early at 6pm! We were also looking forward to seeing the new parade and light show- neither happened at all that week. We made the best of it but it was just disappointing.
Although I would love to see the park at night, it’s still a NEW park that cost over 7 billion dollars! Universal probably wants to capitalize on return visits during the fall. I don’t think anyone is defending them, I think US theme park fans are just happy to have an amazing new park that reflects the scale, tech, and immersive capabilities that the last 20 years of not having a new park has now made possible.
Disney had their chance, but instead they built a new park in China, cruise ships, and a 4 billion dollar media studio in New York. None of these things are theme parks.
Most fans of theme parks are just that… fans of theme parks. I’m an agnostic fan, I don’t care if it’s Disney, Universal, or even Dollywood. I just want something new – not a parade, a themed lounge, or some reskinned old ride; which is all Disney is offering after not giving me a Star Wars land. What is a Batu? Why not Mos Eisley or Endor???
I want new rides, I want new lands, and I’ve wanted a new domestic theme park for over 20 years. Universal is giving me that at a good value.
Oh, and did I mention room service and package pickup?
I get your point, but I would personally argue that Disney’s new park in China is, in fact, a theme park. Similarly, I’d argue that the recent theme parks Universal has built in Beijing and Singapore are also theme parks.
Epic Universe is a great accomplishment, and Universal built it to make their Central Florida complex more competitive with Walt Disney World as a vacation destination. I’d expect plenty of expansions in the decades to come, but as far as new gates go, both Universal and Disney are more likely to continue building those in underserved international markets.
Lol! My mistake. I meant to say “Domestic Theme Park.”
Thanks for catching it.
To your point about how so much of the park was achieved “against all odds”: I am ECSTATIC that this park actually bucks the recent trend of mandating that every new theme park attraction be based on currently popular IP! The most obvious example is, of course, Celestial Park. What I love most about this land is that it respects the guests’ intelligence; instead of giving us generic sci-fi theming with alien technology or whatever, they went with a much more novel concept that feels both Classical and retro-futuristic. As a fan of Discoveryland, I’m here for that!
But it’s not just Celestial Park; I would argue that Dark Universe should also be celebrated by those of us who want more original IPs for theme parks. Sure, it’s technically based on a Universal-owned IP, but not in the way that “counts” for corporate executives. After all, the land isn’t based on any recently popular films and isn’t creating synergy with an ongoing franchise. It really seems that Universal Creative was passionate about that land, and boy am I glad they got their way.
I’ve written elsewhere, and will elaborate further in the future, that I view Dark Universe as a non-IP land.
Yes, I know Universal claims that it’s based on their ‘classic monsters’ franchises. But for the vast majority of guests, these stories are simply folklore. I suspect the land started development as part of the Dark Universe cinematic universe, and then managed to get salvaged and pushed through by Universal Creative once that was cancelled. I’m sure there are some interesting stories about how this land came to fruition, and I hope we get to hear them someday!
100% agree here. I’m general central FL parks close too early. People will defend this by saying Universal is close to houses and they’re nose rules in place. I already remind people of a couple of things in this regards. 1. Halloween Horror Nights runs until 2am. 2. Orlando Informer runs past midnight, they do close some roller coasters at midnight though for noise. Which suggests to me midnight is the law for Universal. Also, last time I checked Epic isn’t in the same type of area as USO & IOA. Meaning those excuses just aren’t valid. It’s shortsightedness on their part. if they need longer to reset attractions they should open later in the AM and stay open later to both show off their new park and help the guests out in regards to comfort with the weather and sun!
I’m incredibly skeptical there’s any kind of ‘curfew’ or noise ordinances imposed on Universal by the city or county, whatsoever.
The theme parks run this region, and the tax revenue generated by a few apartment complexes pales in comparison to what Universal brings to the table. (IIRC the nearest homeowners are all across Sand Lake Road.)
Totally agree that they’d be better off with 10a-10p hours, but I think that’s a false choice. No reason not to do 9a-10p, even if that means shorter hours at IoA or USF.